Chapter 123 The Mage and the Bracer

Evening.

The outskirts of the Misty Forest.

The campfire crackled with a reassuring sound, its warm flames illuminating the dim surrounding air.

Fine cloth sleeping bags, cashmere blankets, scalding iron cups, and bubbling, boiling water...

It was an ordinary small campsite.

At first glance, it looked no different from the hundreds of other adventurer camps scattered across the vast forest, set up by those who had ventured into the danger zone to strike it rich on "Hunting Day."

But if someone were to linger a little longer in this seemingly ordinary camp, they would be surprised to discover something:

The temperature within the camp was noticeably warmer.

It was already the "Month of Falling Leaves." The temperature had dropped significantly, and combined with the unique environment of the Misty Forest, the nights here were particularly grueling.

Adventurers with an average Constitution would easily catch a cold or fall ill after a single night without hot water and a fire to ward off the chill.

But the space bathed in firelight at this campsite felt like another world, the temperature perfectly adjusted to the most comfortable range for the human body.

Even the forest's most abundant and annoying mosquitoes, usually drawn to flames, seemed completely repelled by the firelight, nowhere to be seen.

If you observed closely enough—and possessed a bit of magical expertise—you might discover the root cause of the camp's stark difference from the outside world.

The mist was flowing.

The grayish-white mist that filled every corner of the Misty Forest, usually drifting quietly through the air, now streamed around the campfire like a gentle current.

Forming a vortex of mist, the magical particles in the air were driven into a rhythmic and complex pattern by an invisible force, stirring the physical laws of the surrounding area.

"Having a mage in the party is just too convenient!"

A tall male Elf leaned lazily against a tree trunk, a relaxed expression on his face as he held a crystalline, green-skinned fruit.

"It's been out of season for almost half a year. I'm probably the only one who can still eat a specialty leaf-fruit from 'Ivilius.'"

He pinched the fruit gently between his fingertips. Illuminated by the firelight, its thin skin was almost translucent, revealing the textured fibers of the flesh inside.

He casually tossed it into his mouth. He didn't even need to chew; a gentle press of his tongue against the roof of his mouth released the sweet and sour juice, the crisp tenderness of the fruit making him feel as if he had returned to his homeland.

"Mmm..."

The Elf with smooth blond hair narrowed his eyes in comfort.

Not far away, an elegant man in a plain indigo robe holding a book smiled at the sighing Elf before looking away.

Unlike the Elf's casual posture on the ground against a tree, the mage named "Cornell" sat on a spacious, exquisitely crafted lounge chair lined with fine goose down.

Clearly, just like the out-of-season green fruit in the Elf's stomach, this was a luxury item that had no business being in this place at this time.

The reason for this ultimately boiled down to a few words:

The convenience of magic.

"It's a pity we only had time to buy two small bags when we left 'Ivilius.'"

"Now I can only pick out a few a day to taste. It's not satisfying at all."

As he spoke, the Elf couldn't help but sit up straight and look toward the other side of the campfire, near the edge of the camp—

At a red-haired Warrior in full heavy armor, his expression stern and resolute.

He complained, "I told you there was no need to rush! With the Verdant Forest's environment, that 'Alpha Cave Snatcher' couldn't have run far!"

"Even if we rested in the city for another two days, it wouldn't have delayed our progress much at all."

Faced with the Elf's complaints, the red-haired man didn't even look up. Treating the words as if he hadn't heard them, he focused entirely on wiping the reddish-brown longsword in his hands, which emitted a faint glow in the night.

"Hey! Say something!"

The man's silence instantly annoyed the Elf, making even the leaf-fruit in his mouth seem to lose its flavor.

Seeing this, Cornell spoke up from his lounge chair to mediate, "It's not about rushing. I remember at that time, we had already been chasing the Snatcher for almost half a month. It was in a state of extreme hunger. If we didn't deal with it quickly, it would have very likely attacked the Elf settlements near the Verdant Forest."

"Who cares if they live or die..." He had merely been looking for a topic of conversation and didn't really mean to cast blame; he was simply irritated by the other man's silence.

Persuaded by Cornell, the Elf calmed down.

He shrugged helplessly at the mage.

"It's a good thing you're the only normal person in this party. Otherwise, I wouldn't know how to survive being stuck with these guys for ten days or half a month."

Still smiling, Cornell leaned back in his chair against the silk cushion. With a slight shift of his will, a steaming teacup on the nearby tray steadily floated up and drifted obediently to his lips.

He took a sip of tea, savoring the lingering fragrance on his tongue.

His attention returned to the pages of the book in his hands, which was almost thicker than a brick.

Through the gaps between his fingers, the title printed on the cover was faintly visible:

Dialectal Evolution of the Giant Language - Phonology from Thunderclap to Stone Tremor

"You've been reading that book for days. I remember you bought it in Nym, right?" The Elf looked at the heavy tome in Cornell's hands and clicked his tongue. "Does anyone other than you mages actually read these massive volumes?"

In response, Cornell simply shook his head.

"It's just a hobby. It has nothing to do with magic."

"Now that you mention it, that's true." As if the mage's answer had triggered a memory, a measure of agreement appeared on the Elf's distinctively exquisite face.

"I remember before I left..."

Bang—

Before he could finish, a loud crash suddenly rang out in the nearby woods.

The gently flowing mist in the air instantly stagnated, the magical particles plunged into chaos, and traces of the outside chill seeped into the camp.

In the distance, a burly figure could be vaguely seen rapidly approaching the camp. The dazzling flames of the magical traps he had triggered along the way swirled around his body.

Such an indomitable stance, charging fearlessly through various traps, should have belonged to a powerful enemy that would put the entire squad on high alert.

However, neither the human Warrior maintaining his gear alone nor the Elf leaning against the tree made any move to prepare for battle.

The latter even looked at Cornell with a hint of amusement.

"Crash!"

Amidst snapping branches and swirling leaves, the burly figure burst out from the forest shrubs.

His green skin was still stained with goblin blood, and he still wore that same totem breastplate.

Pushing off the ground with legs as thick as an elephant's, the half-orc strode straight up to the mage.

"Volga, hungry, hot meat, eat!"

Cornell looked at the half-orc before him, who had just destroyed all of his carefully laid traps, his eyes filled with profound helplessness.

"Didn't I tell you? You have my mark on you. When you come back..."

"Never mind."

He had already said it countless times. Glancing at the drool dripping from the other's mouth, he decided to save his breath.

He waved his hand casually, and a ring on his finger suddenly flashed with silver light.

Following the flickering silver motes, several large chunks of fully cooked, savory beast meat appeared and dropped onto a tray set on the ground beforehand.

The half-orc Volga didn't hold back. He threw himself at the food and devoured it ravenously, like a starving wild beast.

He went to sleep the moment he finished eating. After picking the last shred of meat from his teeth with a twig and letting out a loud burp, he closed his eyes and passed out.

His thunderous snores shook the air.

It had been less than ten minutes since he returned to the camp.

Volga's class was unique, seemingly a variant within the "Barbarian" category that used "anger" as its core source of power.

While it granted him explosive strength far surpassing ordinary classes, every breath and heartbeat silently built up rage within him.

He needed to release it regularly, venting the excess rage that surpassed his limits to avoid losing control in a frenzy.

Because of this, the few members of the squad were already very used to Volga's habit of suddenly leaving the party.

Furthermore, since they were currently on the outskirts of the Misty Forest, there were almost no creatures that could threaten them, so there was basically no danger in him acting alone.

After spending some time resetting the traps destroyed by the half-orc, Cornell sat back down on his lounge chair.

Beside him, the blond Elf idly traced something in the air with a twig.

Glancing at the bloodstains on the half-orc, he seemed to recall a topic discussed by the Class Holders on the Association Second Floor before they left town, and he remarked casually, "Hunting Day... I heard the number of goblins this year is much higher than before. A lot of Adventurer Squads from town haven't returned."

"Isn't it like this every year?" Cornell replied without looking up, turning a page and scanning the dense characters. "Adventurers exchange their lives for money. It's completely normal."

"You speak as if you've participated before. If it weren't for an Association quest, you probably wouldn't even want to step out the door, would you?"

Cornell was noncommittal.

"After this quest is over, I'll probably rest for a while."

"Oh? Preparing to advance to the Transcendent Tier?"

"How could that be? I'm still far from it," Cornell replied with a smile. "My mentor asked me to return to Chromatic Ring City. His experiment is at a crucial stage and he's short on hands, so he asked me to go over and help for a few days."

"Oh..." The Elf's expression didn't show much disappointment; instead, he looked somewhat relieved. "It just so happens we've been taking on a bit too many quests lately, and I'm exhausted. I'll go home and rest for a few days after this is over too."

Hearing this, Cornell gave a slight nod.

"The target is located deep inside the forest. According to the quest information given by the Association, it's about two or three days away."

"It is indeed time for a rest."

...

...

Meanwhile, on the other side of the forest.

The time had reached dusk.

Having packed up the loot in the cave and thus completed their quest, the "Greenblood" squad was on their way back, looking for a suitable spot to set up camp for the night.

Regarding the half-orc who had helped them by clearing out the Goblin Lair ahead of time, Xia Nan had initially felt surprised and on guard.

But after the half-orc left the cave without any attachment and showed no hostility toward them, he didn't mind it as much.

He simply treated it as a minor interlude on their adventure.

What's more, the half-orc had left all the loot in the lair to them, which even included a Bugbear.

Adding up all the bits and pieces, everyone would probably get around a dozen gold coins, so it wasn't as if they had gained nothing at all.

In contrast, it was Berg, who had stayed at the cave entrance to keep watch for them, who acted exceptionally agitated.

"I said this before. We shouldn't have taken a quest this far out. The round trip takes four or five days, and there's too much uncertainty!" Seemingly still brooding over the half-orc who had suddenly appeared in the cave, he complained to Adeline at the front of the formation.

The shadows of the past and the unexpected encounter with a powerful Class Holder during the quest had caused this middle-aged man, who had worked as an adventurer for years, to lose control of his emotions.

Adeline walked silently at the very front of the line. She didn't say much, simply allowing him to vent his deep-seated insecurities through his words.

She knew he just had that kind of personality.

And precisely because of this, an experienced fighter with decent combat power like Berg remained in the "Greenblood" squad, making a living by hunting goblins.

Watching from the side, Xia Nan couldn't help but recall the time they encountered "Gap-Toothed" Bennett on an adventure shortly after he joined the party.

He remembered that after the battle ended, Berg's behavior had been essentially the same as it was now.

Except, the reason "Gap-Toothed" had targeted them back then was that Berg had leaked the party's information to his old acquaintance Kegel. After being rejected by Adeline, Kegel joined "Gap-Toothed"'s squad, thus exposing their details.

The fault had laid with Berg himself.

Therefore, no matter how intense his emotions were back then, his outward behavior only showed guilt and self-reproach.

At the time, Xia Nan had thought that was just the kind of person he was.

But as the number of adventures they went on together gradually increased, he slowly sensed Berg's true personality hidden beneath his joking voice and veteran facade.

Simply put, he was "afraid of death."

On the other hand, if he was truly terrified of dying, wouldn't finding a well-governed major city far away from monster gatherings be far safer than making a living day in and day out in the Misty Forest like he did now?

Ultimately, when faced with the trade-off between danger and high income, he had chosen the latter.

He felt that gold coins were more important.

Fortunately, the quest was over, and they didn't need to delve any deeper into the forest. They were already on their way back.

His feelings of insecurity stabilized somewhat.

After venting his emotions, Berg gradually calmed down as well.

Though he didn't return to the relaxed posture of a veteran adventurer, he stopped uttering words of complaint, choosing instead to follow the squad in silence.

Off to the side, Xia Nan, who had witnessed the whole thing, didn't get involved. He didn't have a meddlesome personality to begin with.

And Abi, who was usually talkative and on relatively good terms with Berg, sensibly kept his mouth shut as a rookie greenhorn.

It wasn't until night was drawing near and the atmosphere in the party had cooled down...

An unexpected discovery prompted him to speak his first words, "Huh, what is this?"

Xia Nan's gaze followed.

He saw Abi holding a peculiarly shaped, silvery-white piece of metal in his hand.

It looked inexplicably familiar.

Suddenly, Adeline's surprised voice rang in his ears, "Is this... 'Iron Hand' George's Bracer?"